


A Dark Moment In Time

by megsblackfire



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Almost Everyone Makes an Appearance - Freeform, Don't read if you are easily offended, Happy Ending, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Self-Harm, Suicide, dark themes, for the couple at least, not so much everyone else, seriously very dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-18 01:02:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11280471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megsblackfire/pseuds/megsblackfire
Summary: Reaper is worried; he hasn't seen Soldier: 76 since the night before and they were supposed to meet up for training in the morning. The old soldier thrived on routine; why would he skip out on a promise like that? Jesse's sure that nothing's wrong and that Reaper is just overthinking the situation.But there is that weird dripping sound coming from the unisex bathroom off the training room. Jesse's sure it's just a leaky faucet. It shouldn't be anything to worry about.





	A Dark Moment In Time

Jesse glanced up as he heard something dripping. It was a little bit faster than a leaky faucet, but it was still that same “drip...drip...drip” of liquid beading off of a round surface. He frowned and tightened the knob on the sink in front of him. He hated using the washrooms in the training room, but it was the only place in Gibraltar that had decent water pressure at the moment.

“Hey, Jesse,” Lena chirped happily as she zipped into the room. “Finished your morning jog?”

“Yup,” he smiled. “Uh, you hear that dripping noise?”

“Hmm?” she asked before she tipped her head to the side. “Just sounds like a leaky faucet to me. Torb should handle it no problem.”

“Yah,” Jesse agreed. “Best to let the engineer handle the plumbing issues, huh?”

“Well, he can’t yell at us if he fucks it up,” she grinned before she skipped off. “See you at breakfast!”

Jesse chuckled as he put his hat on his head. He cast one more look around the washroom before he left. The dripping would have to wait until he could talk to the engineer. No use making a potentially simple fix exponentially more difficult.

***

“Leaky faucet?” Torbjörn frowned. “Yah, I can fix that no problem. Which bathroom?”

“Unisex one off the training room,” Jesse replied as he stroked his beard. “Bit of a weird pattern though. It’s really been bugging me.”

“Weird pattern?” Torbjörn asked as he started collecting his tools.

“Yah, like everything’s dripping faster than it should be,” Jesse shook his head. “Like the faucet’s turned on and it’s dripping off a rag or somethin’.”

“Huh,” Torbjörn shook his head. “I’ll keep an eye out. Might just be that something made a nest where they shouldn’t have.”

Jesse nodded as Reaper stepped into the room. They both tensed up on instinct, but relaxed as Reaper glanced around. They were still getting used to the man’s presence on base after he and Sombra defected from Talon. Everyone had wanted to lock them up, but Soldier: 76, strangely enough, had been the one to advocate for them. No one had the heart to deny the old soldier his request and the pair had been with Overwatch ever since. Jesse could sense the confusion and unease rolling off of his former boss and cleared his throat.

“You lose somethin’?” he asked.

“Have either of you seen Ja...Soldier?” Reaper asked.

Soldier: 76 didn’t like being called ‘Jack’ even though they all knew he was Jack Morrison. It was a bit of a shock when Reaper started using the preferred alias over his name when he used to snarl it on the battlefield.

“Haven’t seen Soldier since last night when he left supper with you,” Jesse narrowed his eyes.

“We went our separate ways once we left the lounge,” Reaper shifted his feet. “We were supposed to meet up for training in the morning, but he never showed. I’m...worried.”

He must have been worried if he was willing to admit it to Jesse. Reaper was nothing if not secretive and more than a little hesitant to trust anyone. Even his old friends and colleagues were unable to get him to trust them again.

“Angela put him on new medication, right?” Jesse shrugged. “Maybe he just forgot. Or slept in.”

Reaper let out a low chuckle. “He’s a soldier, McCree. He doesn’t sleep in.”

“Well, maybe he did and now he’s hiding out of embarrassment,” Jesse replied. “He is a lot older than he was when Overwatch was last operational.”

Reaper growled and shook his head. “Can you help me look?” he asked. “I...have a bad feeling.”

“Yer just paranoid,” Jesse smirked as he moved to follow Reaper out of the room.

Reaper growled at him, but didn’t reply. He probably secretly hoped that he was just overreacting and that Jack wasn’t doing anything dangerous to himself. Angela had warned that his new medication would give him more energy and could potentially give him the means to actually… well, it was better not to think about it.

They scoured the base, stopping everyone to see if they’d seen Soldier. No one had seen him since the night before, but Hana thought she saw him slinking off to the training room early in the morning.

“At least, I think it was him; I was half-asleep and all I saw was white hair,” she frowned. “Do you think he fell asleep on the floor or something?”

“Nah; wasn’t there when I was,” Jesse shook his head. “Maybe Winston sent him on a solo mission?”

“Checked with him already,” Reaper growled. “There’s too much interference for me to find his soul. This is so frustrating; where are you hiding, old man?”

Jesse glanced at Hana before he reached out and clapped Reaper’s shoulder. “Hey, maybe he went to talk to Angela about his meds. He couldn’t have gotten far. The base isn’t that big.”

Reaper let out a low growl before he collapsed into smoke and took off down the hallway. Jesse and Hana sprinted to keep up, glancing at each other nervously. Jesse couldn’t remember a time that Reaper was ever this agitated. Sure, he had been concerned about people’s whereabouts, but he’d never spent a good chunk of the day hunting down one person just because they missed an appointment. Hell, Gabriel Reyes had never bothered hunting anyone down no matter the situation; he had a ‘you either show up or get fired’ mentality. This was new territory for them.

Angela was having tea with Ana when they arrived. She jumped as Reaper materialized beside the table, but smiled as she got to her feet. She was probably the only one that was getting used to Reaper’s constant sudden dramatic appearances, aside from Soldier: 76, of course.

“Ah, Gabriel,” she greeted. “How are you feeling? Are the pain medications helping?”

“They’re fine,” he snapped. “Where’s Jack?”

Reaper must have been really stressed; not only was he responding to Gabriel, but he was using ‘Jack’ instead of ‘Soldier’. This was starting to worry Jesse.

“He’s not with you?” Angela blinked.

“Obviously not,” Reaper snarled as his body dissolved into black mist. “I haven’t seen him since last night! He was supposed to meet me in the training room this morning, but he never showed. I’m...I don’t know what to do.”

“We’ll find him,” Angela soothed as she reached out to push her hand through the mist and help Reaper find an anchoring point. “Deep breaths, Gabriel.”

“Jack doesn’t like straying from his routine,” Ana frowned as she got to her feet. “He shouldn’t….”

“Angela?” Torbjörn’s voice cut through everyone’s commlink. “I...let Reaper know I found...I found Jack.”

“Where is he?” Reaper snarled. “What has that _bastardo_ been doing this whole time?!”

“He...he’s dead.”

Jesse went cold. Hana gasped and covered her mouth. Ana stared straight ahead as her good eye glazed over. Angela started shaking, her hand flying to her chest to grip over her heart. Reaper dissolved into smoke and started billowing out in all directions, a howling scream like that of a tornado thundering through the room.

“Where are you?” Jesse managed to choke out.

“Bathroom off the training room,” Torbjörn replied. “I...just get down here. I’ll explain when you arrive.”

Reaper bolted for the door, a high-pitched scream echoing in his wake. They all scrambled to follow, racing down the hallway on Reaper’s heels. Jack was dead. It didn’t seem possible. How? Why? They had talked and laughed over supper last night; why was this happening.

Torbjörn was sitting on a bench with his head in his hands when they arrived. He was barely holding himself together and he just pointed to one of the stalls. Jesse wrenched the door open and stared in horror at what he found.

Jack was hanging from the shower head, his feet just inches off the ground. He had slashed the belly of his forearms open and blood still dripped slowly off of his fingertips, pooling beneath him before sliding down into the drain. That explained the dripping noise and why it sounded so wrong.

“No,” Jesse whispered.

Reaper let out a shriek and shoved him aside. “Jack, no! No, what did you do?!” he screamed.

Jesse grunted as he hit the wall of the stall and watched Reaper wrap his arms around Jack’s body. He loosened the belt around Jack’s throat enough to slip him free of his noose and collapsed to the ground with him cradled in his arms. Reaper screamed and sobbed, clutching Jack to his chest as he pushed his fingers through his white hair.

“No,” Angela whispered. “No, no, he was getting better!”

“You did this!” Reaper shrieked. “You gave him that new medication! It made him do this!”

“Don’t blame this on me! I was trying to help,” Angela snapped.

“That’s what you always do, isn’t it?” Reaper snarled as he rose off the ground, Jack still cradled in his smoke. “You just try to help. Well, now he’s dead! Are you proud of yourself?!”

“Gabriel, stop this,” Ana snarled as she stepped between Angela and Reaper. “We’re all in shock. It’s no one’s fault.”

“He killed himself!” Reaper shrieked.

“He was depressed and suicidal,” Ana said sternly. “He knew the new medication would give him energy and he might actually go through with one of his thousands of suicide plans. He wanted to get better, Gabriel, but his illness….”

Reaper let out a long keen of agony before he crushed Jack’s corpse to his chest. His mask melted away and Jesse winced at the mess of puckered skin, extra eyes, and gnashing teeth. Gabriel buried his face in Jack’s hair, his extra mouths still wailing as fat tears rolled down his face.

“Don’t leave me,” Gabriel whimpered. “Please, Jackie, don’t leave me.”

“Gabriel,” Angela took a step forward. “He’s gone. I’m sorry. Please, let’s get him up to the medical bay so we can get him cleaned up.”

“Don’t touch him!” Gabriel shrieked as he clutched Jack close. His face dissolved into a black mass of teeth and eyes, losing whatever humanity he clung so hard to. “You won’t take him from me! Not again!”

“Gabriel, please, I just want to get him cleaned up,” Angela lifted her hands. “You can stay the whole time. I promise.”

Gabriel shrieked in fury and extra limbs slammed against the tiled floor. He started to rise into the air, Jack’s corpse pillowed against his torso. If Jesse didn’t know the man was dead, he’d think the old soldier was just sleeping in his ex-lover’s arms. The black mass shifted around Jack, drawing him in deeper into the shadows; if they didn’t act fast, they would never be able to get the body out of Gabriel.

They’d seen it happen before. Gabriel had done it so many times when interrogating his enemies. He would draw them in, relishing in their screams as they tried to fight him, before his nanites tore their body apart and feasted on them. Jesse didn’t think that would happen with Jack’s corpse, but he didn’t doubt that Gabriel would never give it up if it were to sink into his shadows.

Jesse heard the dreaded sound of Ana’s sleepdart being fired. Gabriel dropped to the ground, his head bouncing along the tile. His mass retreated off of Jack’s corpse, but one hand clung desperately to Jack’s jacket as he laid silently on the ground.

“Good thinkin’,” Jesse murmured as he stepped forward and hauled Gabriel’s dead weight over his shoulders. “You got…?”

“Go,” Angela nodded as she carefully removed Gabriel’s hand from Jack’s jacket. “We’ll bring Jack in a little while.”

Jesse nodded and headed for the medical bay.

***

It was a fight to keep Gabriel from stealing Jack’s corpse from the medical bay. He was beyond distraught, growing less and less human by the day. Even Sombra, who probably had the best relationship with Reaper out of everyone on base at the moment, couldn’t get him to solidify for longer than a moment before he lashed out and tried to throw her out of his way.

“It’s like he’s given up,” she said as she stirred her milkshake.

Reinhardt had started baking sweets as soon as he heard about Jack’s death. There was enough junkfood on base now to kill everyone ten times over, but he showed no signs of slowing down. Ana said it was his way to keep busy and stop from thinking about burying his friend again. Jesse didn’t blame him; Jack’s funeral the first time around had been a nightmare. Now they had to bury him again.

“They had barely reconciled,” Lúcio frowned. “How can he just give up?”

“They were together for years before Zurich was destroyed,” Lena rubbed at her eyes. “Maybe that reconciliation gave him hope and now that he’s gone….”

“Fuck,” Sombra growled before she stuffed a shortbread cookie in her mouth. “Oh fuck, Reinhardt, these are way too good! How can I brood with these?!”

Reinhardt laughed loudly from the kitchen, but they could all hear the hitch in his voice. Jack’s second death was hurting them all. It didn’t help that the indomitable Soldier: 76 had committed suicide rather than dying on the battlefield. He took his own life, unable to fight off his illness anymore. It was devastating and Jesse knew he would never be able to fully recover.

Lena gasped softly and Jesse lifted his head. Reaper ghosted into the room, almost completely wraith-like without any discernible limbs. He looked like a living cloak with a white mask.

“Hey, Gabe,” Sombra waved. “Try this cookie. You’ll love it.”

Reaper turned his head towards her, but didn’t seem to know what she was saying. His aura seemed distant, like he wasn’t entirely present in his own mind. Jesse glanced at Lena before he lifted a cookie and gave it a small wave. Reaper’s head followed the motion, but he made no move to come try it.

“Gabe?” Sombra called.

He drifted closer and rested his head against Sombra’s. Jesse heard him talking, but it was impossible to make out the words. Sombra’s reaction, however, made it clear that he was saying something devastating; her eyes had gone wide and tears were filling her lashes. She shook her head, reaching up to grip Reaper’s vest.

“No,” she whimpered.

“What’s goin’ on?” Jesse demanded.

Reaper leaned forward and kissed Sombra’s forehead. She broke down into sobs, grabbing him and trying to hold him close. Reaper melted from between her fingers, taking his time to go around the table and give them all a kiss on the forehead. Jesse grabbed Reaper’s arm and yanked hard to keep him from moving away.

“What’s goin’ on?” he repeated.

“I’m saying ‘good-bye’,” Reaper replied as he melted from between Jesse’s fingers. “I am no longer needed.”

“What?” Jesse demanded as he scrambled after Reaper. “You get yer yellow-belly back here, Gabriel!”

Reaper drifted away like he hadn’t heard Jesse, but he didn’t give up. He swiped at Reaper again and again as he chased the wraith through the hallways until he finally managed to grab something solid and yanked hard. Reaper came to a dead stop and turned to look at him.

“Let an old man die, Jesse,” he said.

“I already lost Jack; don’t make me lose you all over again,” Jesse begged.

“You will survive without me,” Reaper said. “You did before. I won’t be missed.”

“That’s not true! We just got you back!” Jesse said.

“Did you?” Reaper laughed hollowly. “I seem to recall that Angela and Ana are the only ones to refer to me by name. You all call me ‘Reaper’ as if I were a stranger and draw away when I walk into the room.”

“Yer different, that’s all,” Jesse argued. “Please...Papa...don’t leave me again.”

Reaper’s aura softened before he gently cupped Jesse’s face between his hands. He tipped Jesse’s chin up and rested their foreheads together. Jesse let out a sob and clung to what he could of the ash and smoke, begging again and again for Gabriel to stay.

“The world doesn’t need me,” Gabriel murmured. “It never did. I was a tool to be used and when I was no longer needed, they tried to frame me instead of discarding me. The world is still yours, _m’ijo_. Enjoy it.”

“Papa...please,” Jesse begged.

“I love you and I’m so proud of you, Jesse,” Gabriel murmured he collapsed into ash and left.

“Gabe, wait!” Jesse shouted.

He chased after the fleeing phantom, but Gabriel lost him with ease. Jesse stumbled to a stop and sank to his knees. Tears burned his vision as he sat back on his feet, whimpering as he covered his face. This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t right. Why was he losing everyone?!

***

They held the funeral for Jack out above the cliffs overlooking the bay. It was a beautiful day, bright and sunny with lots of bugs and birds flying around. No one had worn black; Jack had hated mourning blacks and no one could bring themselves to put any on; but their attire was subdued. None of them were dressed vibrantly and they were silent as Reinhardt officiated the funeral.

They were gathered around the casket, staring down at Jack as he lay in the simple but comfortable box. He was dressed in black and red while smoke wafted off of his flesh. No one bothered to mention that they all knew it was Gabriel in there with him; no one wanted to think about burying him alive, but it was impossible to get him out of Jack’s corpse. He had thrown Reinhardt across the room when he’d tried to grab him and burrowed deeper into Jack’s empty husk.

“May his soul finally find peace and may it take all the pain of his passing with him,” Reinhardt said softly. “Amen.”

They all whispered ‘amen’ as they stepped forward to close the lid. Jesse felt tears fall down his face as the picked up his corner of the casket. They lowered it into the hole they had dug and once it was in the bottom, Torbjörn set the pipe into place. He had rigged the casket to have a small opening for Gabriel to escape through when he was finished mourning his lost lover. The pipe looked like an old aluminum chimney stack, carefully designed to keep too many insects from getting in and keeping rainwater out.

They slowly started filling in the hole and tried not to cry as bit by bit, the casket was covered. Hana set the headstone in place when they were done, wiping at her eyes. “Here lies Jack Morrison; Soldier until the end”. It was the last thing they could give him.

“Good-bye, Jack,” Jesse murmured as they others began to drift away. “Rest now. You’ve more than earned it.”

He closed his eyes and turned away, missing the softly glowing figure that knelt down on the disturbed ground and ran their hand over the headstone. The letters morphed to read “Here lies Jack and Gabriel Reyes-Morrison; Soldiers until the end” before two glowing figures rose and vanished into the sky.

* * *

 

Gabriel pushed his head into Jack’s neck. He didn’t smell like his sunshine anymore. He just smelt like anesthetic and preserving salt, not warm chocolate, sweet wine, and a touch of nutmeg. But it was still him. For now.

He knew that soon Jack would start to decompose and he would be left clinging to a skeleton, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to let him go again. He’d wasted too much time as it was. He wouldn’t let all that was left of his love slip away.

“Gabriel,” a voice chuckled softly against his ear. “Gabriel.”

He growled and tightened his grip on Jack. “Go away,” he snarled. “Leave me alone in my misery.”

“You drama queen,” the voice laughed. “Come on. Get up.”

Gabriel slowly lifted his face out of Jack’s white hair and stared at the lid of the coffin. “Jack?” he whispered as he reached for the lid.

A softly glowing hand reached through the coffin and gently grasped his hand. “Who else is going to pull you out of your misery?” Jack laughed. “Come on, Gabe. It’s time we both rested.”

Gabriel followed the hand, rising out of the coffin and earth. He stared at his sunshine in all his radiant glory and felt tears burning his eyes. He’d always called Jack ‘his angel’, but to see him as this radiant being with golden wings was awe-inspiring. He wanted nothing more than to sink to his knees and worship the ground Jack walked on. He didn’t deserve to stand in the shadow of such brilliance let alone be bathed in it.

“Jack,” he whispered, reaching for his love.

“Ssh,” Jack soothed as he stepped into Gabriel’s arms and rested his forehead against Gabriel’s. “Ssh, I know. Come, we have a world to explore.”

“How can you want to be with a man like me after what I’ve done?” Gabriel whispered. “You’re so...pure.”

Jack smiled at him and kissed him. “All sins are washed away with death,” he replied. “Now come on, my platinum angel; I want to show you how beautiful this world is from above.”

Gabriel held on tightly to Jack’s hand as they rose into the air. Powerful wings beat the air as they spiralled upwards, their bodies passing through each other. Below them, gold and platinum feathers floated towards the grave where their bodies lay side by side. Gabriel watched the feathers for a moment before he looked at Jack again.

He could see himself reflected in Jack’s blue eyes. He looked…normal. There were still extra eyes and mouths all over his body, but he didn’t look like an abomination against man-kind. Platinum wings as brilliant as Jack’s golden ones beat the air with powerful strokes, keeping him aloft as they rose. His dark hand glowed with the same brilliance as Jack’s pale one.

“I’m…an angel?” he whispered in awe. “But…the things I’ve done.”

“All sins are washed away with death,” Jack repeated as he pulled Gabriel closer to him. “And you were always an angel to me, Gabriel. Even at your worst when the world had taken your light away, I knew there was always a good man inside of you. I wasn’t wrong.”

“Jack,” Gabriel whispered as he cupped Jack’s cheek. “I don’t…. I don’t deserve….”

“I’m going to slap you if you finish that sentence,” Jack warned as he gave Gabriel a flat look. “Now stop worrying, my platinum angel.”

Gabriel pressed his forehead against Jack’s and squeezed his hand. “Jack, _mi alma_ ,” he whispered.

“ _Mi rey_ ,” Jack whispered back, cupping his cheek. “I will always choose you.”

Gabriel felt fat tears rolling down his face before he pulled Jack in close to his chest. Jack folded his wings with a soft gasp as Gabriel’s huge wings beat the air and carried them both skyward. Gabriel pressed his cheek against Jack’s watching him in adoration as his body grew in size.

“I will protect you,” he whispered as Jack threw his arms around his neck. “No matter what, _mi alma_ , _mi dorado_.”

“Gabriel,” Jack smiled and snuggled closer, letting his wings shrink against his back. “You sap. I love you.”

Gabriel rolled them over, holding his temporarily smaller husband to his chest. Their noses brushed against each other before they drew apart and raced each other across the sky. The world was theirs now; nothing could get in their way.


End file.
